eBay UK chief slams Royal Mail strikes for impact on small businesses November 24, 2022 Ebay’s UK chief has slammed posties’ strike action, saying small businesses are being caught in a “crosshairs at the very time they most need support”. Writing in City A.M., Murray Lambell said smaller e-commerce firms were the “lifeblood” of the economy and must be protected during this festive season. “The last two festive trading periods [...]
Hiscox policyholders set to launch legal action against firm over coronavirus claims May 17, 2020 A group of Hiscox policyholders angry at the insurance giant’s decision to exclude coronavirus-related disruptions from its business interruption policies have been given the go-ahead to launch legal action against the firm. According to law firm Mishcon de Reya, over 400 policyholders with nearly £40m in claims have joined the Hiscox Action Group. The law [...]
Treasury Select Committee launches inquiry into Greensill Capital scandal April 14, 2021 Westminster’s Treasury Select Committee has today launched an inquiry the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal. Committee chair Mel Stride said MPs would “take a closer look” at the circumstances surrounding efforts by David Cameron and former senior civil servant Bill Crothers in lobbying on behalf of the failed finance firm. A statement from the committee said [...]
Greensill Capital: The financial scandal that just won’t go away July 5, 2021 On Friday, it was announced that Credit Suisse will pay out a further $750m to backers of its Greensill-linked supply chain finance funds. Thus far, the lender has clawed back $6.1bn of the $10bn of its funding supported by collapsed supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital, up $200m on its previous update. The news follows, [...]
UK businesses borrow over £43bn to survive coronavirus June 30, 2020 The UK’s businesses have borrowed over £43bn so far in total to survive the coronavirus pandemic, new data from the Treasury has revealed. Despite the mammoth lending programme, the approval rate for the flagship coronavirus business interruption loans scheme (CBILS) is still lingering around 50 per cent. Of the 104,569 applications made for funding, 52,275 [...]
Coronavirus business loans hit £41bn, as approval rates stagnate June 23, 2020 British businesses have now borrowed £41bn in loans backed by guarantees from the government to cope with the impact of coronavirus, but approval rates are failing to improve. Approval rates for the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) remain stuck at 51 per cent, hitting a total of £10.53bn lent so far. As of 21 [...]
Finance understands the vital role it plays in recovery August 7, 2020 Stephen Pegge is Managing Director of Commercial Finance at UK Finance From the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, the banking and finance industry has understood the critical role it plays in helping steer businesses through the sudden business interruption and uncertain outlook. The lockdown was vital to halt the spread of the virus. But it’s [...]
Analysis: Anneliese Dodds’ sacking was a long time coming May 10, 2021 Anneliese Dodds’ sacking last night makes her one of the shortest ever serving Labour shadow chancellors, after a little more than 13 months in the role. She impressed early on as she marked a clear tonal change from the far-left policies of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, before heavy criticism began to fall on her [...]
Lloyds says it has provided £4bn support to businesses during coronavirus crisis May 12, 2020 Lloyds Banking Group today said it has provided more than £4bn support to businesses during the coronavirus crisis. Britain’s major banks were heavily criticised for slow lending, bureaucracy and offering disadvantageous terms to customers following the coronavirus lockdown. Lloyds today said it accounted for approximately 28 per cent of lending under the government bounce back [...]
Coronavirus business loan borrowing nears £35bn but CBILS approval rate languishes June 9, 2020 British businesses have borrowed almost £35bn under the government’s three emergency coronavirus credit programmes, but the approval rate for coronavirus business interruption loans (CBILS) remains just over 50 per cent. The bounce back loan scheme, which supports small businesses with 100 per cent state-backed loans, continued to see the strongest demand, according to new figures [...]